Interior Ministry Generals Connected with Magnitsky Case Will Not Go to U.S.

Interior Ministry generals connected with the case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky will not go to the U.S. because they have “too much work,” and not because they might be deprived of their visas at the behest of American senators. One of the generals, Nikolai Shelepanov, spoke of this in an interview with Voice of America.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t manage [to go to the U.S.]. There’s too much work here. A delegation will go there from the Russian Investigative Committee, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and so on. So, next time… Once a year, we go there to share experiences concerning juries, deals with the justice system, and so on. This year we didn’t manage it, but next year, it will happen,” said Shelepanov.

According to Shelepanov, the Russian delegation’s trip was organized at the initiative of the U.S. Justice Department. He remarked that he and his colleague Tatiana Gerasimova, who is also connected to the Magnitsky case, submitted their applications for American visas and received authorization for entry without any problems. Shelepanov explained the apparent absence of difficulties in visiting the U.S. by citing possible “differences between the U.S. Justice Department and the State Department.”

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that two Interior Ministry generals connected with the Magnitsky case were preparing to visit the U.S. on the anniversary of the death of the Hermitage Capital Management lawyer.

One of the documents cited in the report was a letter that the American senators sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in connection with the travel preparations of the generals. One of the authors of the letter, Benjamin Cardin, also spearheaded the establishment of the “Magnitsky List,” forbidding entry into the U.S. for Russian officials involved in the death of the lawyer.

In the letter, the senators advised Clinton that Shelepanov and Gerasimova had submitted applications for visas and were ready to travel the U.S. on November 15, that is, on the second anniversary of Magnitsky’s death (he died in a detention facility on 16 November 2009). In connection with the possible involvement of the generals in the Magnitsky case, the senators asked Clinton to annul their visas and forbid their entry into U.S. territory.